The mood was positive among the shop fronts of Bootle Strand after the news Sefton Council plans to invest £1.5 million into the shopping centre.
When The Strand opened in the 1960s it was the centrepiece of a modern and emerging town. But as the years have passed, the shopping centre has come to bear the weight of high street decline, and the rejection of the town's Levelling Up Fund bid was a "slap in the face" for the community.
However, hope is not lost for those fighting to show that the Strand and Bootle has more to offer with the promise of investment from the council labelled as a "step in the right direction" on the road to recovery.
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The bulk of that money, nearly £1m, will be spent during 2023/24 as Sefton Council enacts its plan for transforming the shopping centre. According to a report produced for the budget meeting on, February 7, nearly £680k will be spent on “Strand repurposing” with a further £375k to be spent on ‘Strand business plan.’
Martyn Abbey opened his barber shop in the Big Onion a marketplace and hub for employability support in 2021. Speaking to the ECHO he said: "It is great news and I think the council will come good on the promise. The Big Onion has a good relationship with the council and there is a good community spirit.
"Personally it was not the greatest news that we did not get anything from the Levelling Up Fund and a lot of working-class places missed out. I would love to see a nighttime economy being invested in and seeing more people coming here to eat out and enjoy themselves."
The council has confirmed the entertainment space branded the 'Salt and Tar' is still going ahead and will be hosting comedy and music festivals later this year. Many hope that the money promised by the council will be used to push the long-awaited project along.
The aim of the project is to bring new activity to the under-used land. The 'Salt and Tar' was overlooked by the Leveling Up Fund bid but it is seen as one of the key components in Bootle's regeneration.
"Funding needs to be put into events that draw people in", says Annie Spears creative director of In Another Place a charity and community theatre company. She added: "The more events we have that wow people will have a positive knock-on effect. That is why we need things like the 'Salt and Tar'."
In Another Place aims to bring events and performances into Bootle Strand. The charity has just expanded, renting a room in the Strand and decking it out in the style of a Medieval Castle aimed at bringing families together.
She said: "You want people to believe things are actually happening and changing. If you get a big injection of money all at once and everything changes it can put people off. But the smaller investment spent in the right way can take us a few steps father in the right direction.
"The investment is good news as the Strand is key to life here, it is the heart of the town, and while people's habits are changing, if we can invest in the Strand and show we have something interesting to offer, that can't be a bad thing."
While many business in the Strand are looking to the future the report by the council also revealed the total loss for the shopping centre in 2022/23 is set to be half a million pounds with a further £300k loss projected for 2023/24.
Chris Lewis Co-creator of the Big Onion said: "We were involved in the Leveling Up Fund Application and clearly not getting that money for Bootle is disappointing but it is not the end of the story. There is an awful lot of money that needs to be spent on The Strand.
"It is the heart of Bootle and it is always changing, the £1.5 million is welcome but we would like more as everybody would. We think if we work together that over time we will regenerate this space.
"The space needs to be repurposed and we need to think of other ways of reusing The Strand. The investment is a start but not the end and it's what we do with it. Let's use it correctly and create some positivity."
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